FOUR people from Merseyside appeared in court over a city centre disturbance in which members of an anti-fascist group were injured.

Liam Pinkham, 24, of Victoria Road, Wallasey; Nathan Smith, 21, of North Road, St Helens; and Michael Kearns, 40, of Dovecot Avenue, Dovecot; appeared at Liverpool magistrates court with a boy, 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

All were charged with violent disorder, along with two other men from Blackburn.

Yesterday the case was sent to Liverpool crown court.

The defendants were arrested after a swoop by officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, which saw homes in Liverpool, Southport and Blackburn raided.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester police, who led the operation, said the charges related to a disturbance in Bold Street on July 6 last year, in which three members of an anti-fascist group were hurt after being kicked and punched by 10 men from an extreme far-right group.

The men, who did not enter pleas to the charge against them, will appear at the crown court on February 21.